Defense

F-35 training ‘Year of execution’ in review

This time last year, the 33rd Fighter Wing at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., stood up its Marine squadron with a fleet of aircraft with the thought 2012 would be their “year of execution.”

Air Force F-35 Lightning IIs stationed here would take off for their first of hundreds of sorties that year once they had their military flight release Feb. 28, 2012. Marine sorties would add to the count marking a year total of 739 sorties.

“I think overall it was an outstanding year for the 33rd Fighter Wing and all the men and women and the accomplishments we had,” said Air Force Col. Andrew Toth, commander of the wing.

Their success culminated with an Air Education and Training Command ‘ready for training,’ after a 65-day operational utility evaluation ended early December 2012. That allowed the first class of pilots transitioning from legacy airframes to the F-35 to start Jan. 7.

Partnered with the wing, Lockheed Martin recently released what they called the highlights of the F-35 program during the last year. The joint strike fighter’s manufacturer said they delivered 30 aircraft (all three variants) to military based and achieved significant advances in flight test highlighting a year of continued progress. In 2011 they delivered 13 jets.

The 33rd currently houses 22 F-35 for training the U.S. Marines, Air Force and United Kingdom. Lockheed already released photos of the F-35C variants the Navy squadron here will receive soon.

Lockheed Martin’s list of major milestones include some from Eglin:

U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta announced the end of probation for the F-35B STOVL, nearly one year ahead of schedule.

The first two international F-35s were delivered to the United Kingdom.

The first three operational F-35B STOVL fighters delivered in November marked the beginning of tactical operational training at Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, Ariz.

33rd Fighter Wing at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., completed its Operational Utility Evaluation (OUE) and Air Education and Training Command (AETC) officials announced that the wing is ready for pilot training in 2013. The wing flew more than 700 sorties in 2012.

Norway procured its first F-35 commencing the largest public procurement project in its history. The event was marked by Minister of Defence Espen Barth Eide authorizing the order for the first F-35A for the Norwegian Armed Forces.

Luke AFB was selected for F-35A U.S. and international pilot training. The base will receive 72 aircraft for three fighter squadrons.

Major flight test accomplishments included the first aerial weapons release for the CTOL and STOVL; the F-35A reached maximum high-angle-of-attack milestone in four flights; the first night flight and night refueling missions were accomplished and both the CTOL and STOVL completed air-start testing.

F-35 program surpassed 5,000 flight hours.

The 33rd FW also lists the following 2012 accomplishments:

Jan. 11- VMFAT-501 received the first two F-35B aircraft, tail numbers BF-6 and BF-8

March 6 – Lt Col Eric Smith, 58th Fighter Squadron, Director of Operations, flew the first F-35 sortie in tail number 08-0750, after the 33 FW was issued Military Flight Release and all flight certificates.

The cumulative 2012 milestones were achieved through a combination of planned test flights and test points, along with test flights and test points added throughout the year. The flight test program is now more than one third complete in aggregate with the Air Force’s F-35A variant leading the way with 43 percent complete.

“We are completing our third year of on-plan system development performance since the F-35 Program Executive Office completed its Technical Baseline Review in 2010,” said Orlando Carvalho, Lockheed Martin F-35 program executive vice president and general manager. “We fully expect this to continue in 2013 as we begin flight test of the Block 2B mission system software which will ultimately provide the initial war-fighting capability the Marines need for their initial operational capability. This successful system development progress, a maturing production line and further operational base stand up are all strong indicators of the F-35 program’s positive trajectory.”

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